whither the steps led, and the thought perhaps that he might be the discoverer of some hidden treasure, gave him more courage than he naturally possessed, and he descended a few of the stairs, then, after vainly trying to penetrate into the darkness beneath, paused and looked up to the sky above. Encouraged by the remains of the sunlight and the shining planet Venus above him, he resumed his descent. He went, he supposed a hundred feet underground, when he came upon a square landing-place with a niche in the wall, then he came to another long staircase, still descending into darkness. Once more he paused, and looked up at the now very little bit of sky visible over head. Seeing nothing to cause any fear, and hopeful of soon being able to unravel the mystery, he stretched out his hands, and by cautiously feeling the walls, and with equal caution placing his feet slowly and firmly upon each step, he boldly went forward and counted in his descent two hundred and twenty steps. He found himself able to breathe pretty freely, but noticed an aromatic smell like that of burning incense, which he thought Egyptian. This he noticed rolling up now and then from beneath, as if from another world, and it occurred to him that it was from the world of mining gnomes, and that he was breaking in upon their secrets. Still he went on, in spite of all his fears, until he was momentarily stopped by a wall in front; turning sharply to the right, however, he found the way open to him, and discovered a still deeper staircase, at the foot of which was a steady though pale light. His alarm at discovering light so far down in the earth's interior was naturally great, but not great enough to overcome his curiosity and cause him to retrace his steps, and he once more commenced descending the mouldering old steps which looked as if they had not been trodden for ages. Then he thought he heard mysterious rumblings over head, like the sound of heavy waggons and horses, then all was still again. Many times he paused and thought he would return, thinking he might have accidently stumbled upon either the haunt of robbers or the abode of evil spirits; he stood still for awhile, fairly paralysed with fear. Then he began to recall where he had been working, he thought of the field above, the surrounding woods and his native hamlet only a few miles distant. This somewhat cheered him, but still with a good deal of fear remaining in his heart, he went down the rest of the stairs, the light growing brighter at every step. At last, he came upon a square chamber, built up of large hewn ancient stones. Filled with awe and wonderment, he found a flagged pavement and a lofty roof rising to a centre, in the groins of which was a rose beautifully carved in some dark stone or in marble. The alarm he had hitherto felt was nothing as compared with the fear which overwhelmed him when, after passing a Gothic stone portal, light suddenly streamed out over him with a brightness equal to that of